Just Before Death
by Shadowy Sunlight
Summary: This is a book of one-shots through the eyes of various characters just before their deaths. Read and review :)
1. Chapter 1 - Glimmer

**Hi, everybody, and welcome to this book of one-shots! Each chapter is the death of a different canon character just before his/her death. I hope you enjoy! :)**

 **First up is Glimmer.**

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Glimmer:

I shot Clove that winning smirk and tossed golden curls over my shoulder as I moved slightly closer to Cato. The dark-haired District 2 tribute looked as though she was going to jump up and tear my throat out, but she apparently decided against it. It was no secret among us Careers that Clove had feelings for her District partner, Cato. But then, Cato had no idea and seemed to have feelings for me.

I didn't _really_ like Cato. I was just playing with Clove, as I enjoyed seeing her frustration. It was simply amusing to watch her teeth grind together, and her hand close into a fist around the knife that was _eternally_ in her hand.

But Clove's hatred was distributed about equally between me and another of this year's tributes: Katniss, of District 12. All of us Careers hated it when we were outscored by a peasant girl from such a far-out district. That girl even caught the Capitol's attention more than us Careers, as her stylist designed for her an outfit which caused her to be known as the Girl on Fire. Clove, especially, felt a strong rage when she couldn't kill Katniss in the bloodbath.

Speaking of Fire Girl, we Careers were waiting for her to come down from the tree beside us. And when she did, she'd be a goner. We all knew that Fire Girl - Katniss - couldn't stay in the tree forever.

Clove glared at me again, and we both watched Cato's eyes close as he drifted off into sleep. I smiled sweetly, laying my bow and quiver of arrows down between me and Clove, allowing the arrows to point in Clove's direction. Staring into the depths of Clove's dark eyes, I suppressed a shiver. Clove was in the Games this year to win, and _only_ to win. I knew that at her first chance, she would kill me with no hesitation.

But I wasn't going to give her that pleasure. _I_ was going to win the Games this year.

I held Clove's stare, meeting her glare with a gaze full of mocking laughter. My lips curved into a small smirk, and Clove eyed the distance between me and Cato once more before turning away. Swallowing a chuckle, I lay down beside the blonde boy from District 2, resting my head on the pile of grass and moss I had gathered earlier today. The air was warm around us, and I was comfortable as I closed my blue-gray eyes for the night. Sleep washed over me like a black wave.

I was awoken by the commotion around me. There was a loud hum all around me, and as much as I tried to block out the noise, I couldn't. Clove's scream pierced the air, and I sat up to see that the dark-haired tribute girl was struggling to stand up, and constantly swiping at small, blurred green-black dots around her. My eyes adjusted to see that these were small flying insects. I felt like scoffing, until I saw Cato jump up and run through the trees with his pack.

Something was wrong here. I felt an agonizing pain in my hand as I picked up my bow, and I dropped it, shocked. Then, there was a sting in my cheek, and in my wrist, and my ankle, and soon enough, I was burning all over. I screamed, suddenly recognizing the creatures around me.

Tracker jackers. The most deadly insects in the world of the Hunger Games.

I tried to jump to my feet, but a sting in my neck and my unstable feet caused me to fall to my knees again. I screamed again, using both hands to swipe at the tracker jackers all around me. They were everywhere, stinging my entire body. I twisted in agony as tracker jackers swarmed over my body, trying to shield myself with my backpack. I felt pain explode in my eyes as a tracker jacker stung me.

I stared down at my hand for a split moment, and nearly recoiled at the hideous bulges all over my pale skin. But there was no time to worry about my appearance, I realized. I was fighting off tracker jackers all around me; it was all but useless. I struggled and fell onto my back, and they were all over me in a heartbeat. The pain was intolerable, and I felt both blood and tears flow from my eyes.

Time seemed to slow down. The world went blurry, and for a moment, all I could see was sparks of golden, everywhere. I couldn't feel anything, anymore. There was no pain, nothing. Part of me wanted to let go, and let myself fall into the world of blackness threatening to overwhelm me, but another wanted me to get up and fight.

I tried to stand, but I fell again. I couldn't win this battle, I realized, and I stared around me. Everything started to come back into focus, except the world around me was disproportional and warped. I could see patches of green above me, and a small figure among the green.

Fire Girl. She held a knife in her hand, and her other hand held the tree. Then it hit me. Fire Girl must have cut the nest of tracker jackers from the tree, to fall onto us Careers. Except... I didn't know whether I was a Career anymore. I didn't know whether I was a living person anymore.

I had moments left. My time was running out, and I knew it. My mind whirling, I reached weakly for my bow and quiver of arrows and held them tightly, in the hopes that Fire Girl wouldn't get to them. I knew there was no way I could survive, now.

I heard a shout, and Fire Girl fell from the tree, to the ground. The pain was coming back to me, now. My entire body was covered in stings, and I could feel nothing but excruciating pain. I wasn't going to fight this, any longer. I couldn't, and I knew it. It was over. Everything I had worked so hard for, to train for years to get into the Hunger Games... it was all gone.

I hurled myself into the blackness that lined my vision. My body burned fiercely once more, and then... there was nothing.

Nothing left.

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 **Okay, I hope you all enjoyed that! There will be more coming up!**


	2. Chapter 2 - Foxface (Finch)

**Okay, everyone. I'm back!**

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 **First, I would like to thank Onyx628 and FlyingRedPanda for reviewing the first chapter.**

 _Onyx628 \- Thank you so much! :D As you can see, this chapter will be in Foxface's point of view. I hope you enjoy! Have a great day, too!_

 _FlyingRedPanda \- Thanks! I'll be writing Foxface's death in this chapter._

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 **Here's a note to everyone:** _Feel free to suggest the character I write about in the next chapter._

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 **Okay, let's get on with the chapter. The chapter is for Foxface (whose real name is Finch). This was suggested by FlyingRedPanda, and I am going with the theory that Foxface committed suicide.**

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Finch:

How long was this going to last? How long was _I_ going to last?

I knew I couldn't run from the other tributes forever. There was only Thresh, Katniss, Peeta, and that monstrous District 2 boy left, and sooner or later, I was going to be hunted down. I stood no chance against any of those tributes... I had never met anyone but Katniss - I ran into the "Fire Girl" when the two of us were running from the Bloodbath, and we both turned our separate ways afterwards.

Slowly, I lowered myself from the large oak and slid to the soft forest ground. Still, I knew where each and every one of the other tributes was hiding. That proved useful when I looked for food, stealing from the other tributes' supplies.

This wasn't going to work for long, and I knew it. I would _never_ come in first. I shuddered at the thought of a sword slicing through my emaciated figure as I died at the hands of some other tribute. Even if I wasn't killed, I would starve to death, first.

I simply had no chance of winning the Games this year.

 _Boom._

I looked up, startled by the sudden cannon. Everything had seemed almost peaceful, moments ago. I stared in shock. Who could have been killed? Definitely not the boy from District 2. He was probably going to win, anyways. Katniss? Probably not. Not Thresh, either.

Perhaps it was Peeta, that boy from District 12. He was probably the most likely to die, anyways. Well... so was I.

Night was falling, so I would figure out soon, anyway. There really was no point in trying to live so long when I was going to die anyway. It's obvious that I'm not going to live long enough to see the light of victory. That District 2 boy was going to win this year; it seemed practically inevitable. Even if I did live long enough to become the second-place tribute, I stood no chance against him.

I shivered from the cold as I used my hands to dig up a few berries I had buried at the roots of the oak. They felt cold and hard against my hands, but this food was better than nothing. I gently placed them in the slightly-torn pocket of my tribute jacket and scaled my way up the oak trunk once more.

The night would be cold, I realized, pulling myself to the top with my exhausted arms. My dry mouth watered as I lifted a single violet berry to my lips and placed it into my mouth. I pulled my jacket tighter around me, shivering from the cold wind and mentally cursing the Gamemakers.

I didn't know how much time had passed, but I must have fallen asleep. I was woken by the sound of the anthem playing in the sky above the arena. I sat up straight and stared hard at the sky, looking for the face of the tribute who had died earlier today. It was probably Peeta, anyway. That District 12 boy didn't know how to take care of himself. Well, neither did I, I guess.

But the picture in the sky that appeared wasn't of Peeta's face. It was Thresh.

Thresh, the huge boy from District 11. The only who posed the biggest threat to the District 2 male. Then, it hit me. Thresh had killed the District 2 female - Clove - at the Cornucopia feast; it had been evident from the way her district partner behaved that they had some emotional connection.

Thresh's death was probably _revenge._

And soon, three of us tributes would follow him. The best I could do was hope that I would survive the Games, but what good was _hope_ in a place like this? I was going to die, for sure. There were only four of us left, now, and there was no point delaying the inevitable.

There was no point at all. Nothing to live for, anymore. At the beginning, I was struggling to live in the hopes of _living_ , but now, I realized that I couldn't. I couldn't live with the fact that I had witnessed the deaths of twenty-three others.

Right _now,_ there was no point in living with the certain knowledge that I was going to die, sooner or later. I'd rather it be sooner, to be honest. Less time to look at this dreadful arena, where I was guaranteed death. It was simply a prison, and there was nothing I could do about it.

I fell asleep with that thought in my mind. _No point in trying to live in a prison._

I woke up later, the next morning, by the sharp pains in my stomach. I was starving, and I needed to find food soon. Yes, I had gotten a score of _five_ in the training center only thanks to my skill in edible plants, but I could tell that most plants around here were poisonous or stale, and would cause me more harm than good.

A short distance away, I heard a voice - a boy's voice. Peeta, the boy from District 12. Katniss and Peeta were close, which meant that food was close by, as well. They would be a perfect source of food for me.

Moments later, I heard footsteps, and turned my head to see Peeta emerge into the clearing. I was grateful that I was hidden in the tree; otherwise, Peeta would probably have killed me. I would rather die now, though, for I was going to die anyway. So what did it matter? I was ready to jump from the tree and reveal myself to Peeta, but the blonde boy had vanished among the trees.

Sighing, I scaled my way down, and crept silently toward the District 12 tributes' camp. It was a cave, a rather large one, that would comfortably hold both Katniss and Peeta. Right outside, there was a smooth cloth sheet spread on the ground, probably given to Katniss and Peeta by sponsors.

But that wasn't what caught my attention.

It was the small, black berries on the sheet that made me take a step back. I recognized those berries the instant I saw them, and my heart filled with cold dread. This was nightlock, a plant that killed almost instantly. I had been in close - too close - contact with nightlock before, when I was four. I had thought they were edible and swallowed one, before my mother had caught me. Being a healer, she had been able to heal me, but it took her long, arduous work, staying awake all night to care for me.

I froze, here, undecided. I _could_ allow Katniss and Peeta to die from ingesting these berries, but that would leave me to face that District 2 boy alone... and I couldn't. If I warned Katniss and Peeta, they would kill me, anyway. So I _was_ going to die at the hands of some other tribute.

Unless... I took the nightlock.

I would suffer a short, painless death if I did, and the Gamemakers would have lost, in their own, small way. I would die with a triumphant air, knowing that I was more than just a piece in the Hunger Games. The Gamemakers always thought that I could easily be manipulated - run from danger, hide from other tributes. But now, they would no longer have control over me. I would be undefeated in my own way.

That was probably the wisest choice. I realized that I had probably gained knowledge and experience from the Hunger Games. I would take the nightlock. I wasn't going to let any other manipulated tribute kill me; I would avoid the inevitable and die out of my own accord.

I picked up four or five of the dark berries and slunk away through the trees. As soon as I had gotten a short distance away from Katniss and Peeta's camp, I stared at the berries in my hand. I smiled softly to myself, rolling the berries between my fingers.

There was no going back now.

I allowed the berries to enter my mouth and stared up, triumphantly. "The game is over," I said clearly, "and you, President, are the one who lost." During my last few words, my head began to grow dizzy, and I could feel my heart slowing. Before I knew what was happening, I was on the ground, letting the life ebb from me.

The world faded around me into blackness as dark as nightlock. _Goodbye._

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 **I hope you liked the second chapter! Again, feel free to suggest any ideas for future chapters!**

 _ **Question of the Day: What's your favorite color?**_

 **Read and review! :)**


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